Emails are a great way to stay in touch with your customers and keep your business top-of-mind. They can also substantially improve your bottom line.
Email marketing has shown to drive more conversions than all other marketing channels and is responsible for 7% of all ecommerce transactions. These stats make email marketing a necessity for every ecommerce business.
To help you get started with email marketing, we have prepared a list of ten emails every ecommerce business should be sending to their customers.
Welcome email
Studies have shown that welcome emails drive three times more revenue than all other types of ecommerce emails. You should make sure to send out a welcome email to every new customer. You can also send welcome emails to visitors who signed up to your newsletter but haven’t made a purchase yet.
The most straightforward welcome email campaigns consist of a single welcome email. Depending on your strategy, you might want to create a welcome email series of 3 or more emails instead. A welcome email series allows you to try and lead your subscribers down the sales funnel and into making a purchase.
Use the welcome email to tell your customers about your company and show them your most popular products. The welcome email is also an excellent opportunity to ask your subscribers to follow you on social media.
Keep in mind that people sign up to a lot of newsletters, sometimes even unknowingly. They can quickly forget why they signed up to a particular newsletter or mailing list. Make sure to remind your subscribers why they’re receiving your email and how you acquired their email address. Let them know what kind of content you’ll be emailing them in the future. Doing this will help set expectations for future email communication from your business and lower your unsubscribe rate.
Order confirmation email
Don’t think about order confirmation emails as simply a formality. They’re also a great way to upsell and cross-sell to your customers. Try displaying your best-selling products at the bottom of these emails and see if this helps you generate more sales.
Post-purchase email
According to research, 27% of first-time customers return to an online store to make another purchase. To incentivize these customers into making a purchase, send them a post-purchase email with a discount that they can use on their next order.
You can also use the post-purchase email to ask for a product review. To increase the chances of customers taking the time to leave a review, make the reviewing process quick and easy. It shouldn’t take customers more than a few minutes to leave a review.
Upsell & Cross-sell email
Acquiring a new customer is five times more expensive than keeping an existing one. Due to this fact, it’s essential that you keep promoting products to your existing customers. You can do this through upsell and cross-sell emails.
Once a customer makes an order, email them about related products that might interest them. Consider including a discount to make it more likely that they’ll make another purchase.
Engagement email
The engagement email, as its name suggests, serves to engage your subscribers by presenting them with an offer such as a discount, a free shipping coupon, or even a free product. This type of email is great for driving sales during the off-season.
Abandoned cart email
Studies show that shoppers abandon 69% of all shopping carts. To combat this, you should send an abandoned cart email to all visitors that leave your website without making a purchase.
Abandoned cart emails convert at 2.63% on average, making them one of the most important types of ecommerce emails you’re ever going to send. You should take the time and split-test different versions of email copy until you find the one that converts the best. A couple of things you can try out include:
- Personalization - Personalize the emails by addressing the customer by their first name. You can also include photos of the products that they left in their cart.
- Urgency - Try adding a sense of urgency to your abandoned cart emails by including a time-sensitive discount. If the products in question are also low in stock, make sure to mention that as well.
DataCue can help you send personalized abandoned cart emails to your customers. What sets DataCue apart from other similar abandoned cart software is the fact that it also provides you with the option of sending product recommendation emails to people who simply used the search function on your website without adding anything to their cart. You can also use DataCart to send personalized email offers to your customers.
Re-engagement email
Every online store has customers that haven’t visited your store or purchased anything in months. Send those customers an email and ask if there’s a reason why they haven’t made a purchase lately. Show them your latest products and offer them a discount to try and get them to make another purchase.
Curated email
To keep your business top-of-mind, you can send your customers regular curated emails. You can use these emails to show your customers your latest blog posts, product guides, or your best-selling products.
Birthday email
Your customers will appreciate you remembering them on their birthday. Send them an email and wish them a happy birthday. Give them a discount code so they can treat themselves on their special day.
Referral email
If you have a referral program, make sure to tell your existing customers about it by sending them an email. Offer them a discount or a free product in exchange for referring their friends to your store.
Bonus: Holiday email
The holidays are the perfect time to reach out to your subscribers. Most of them are probably looking to purchase gifts for their loved ones so you should let them know about any special deals you might be offering.
Conclusion
Emailing your subscribers on a regular basis is one of the easiest ways to drive more revenue to your ecommerce business. If done correctly, it can delight your visitors and make them look forward to your emails. Look through the types of email campaigns mentioned in this guide and pick the ones that are the most suitable for your business. Don’t feel like you need to incorporate all of these email campaigns into your marketing strategy.
After implementing any of these campaigns into your email marketing strategy, make sure to keep testing and optimizing your email copy to squeeze out as much revenue as possible.
